Coupling module as an interface between a passenger boarding bridge or staircase and the fuselage of an aircraft

ABSTRACT

A coupling module as an interface between an air passenger bridge or staircase and the aircraft fuselage has a cabin and a walkable swivel floor. At least the swivel floor is pivotably arranged about a pivot axis at the cabin to align the swivel floor at a door opening in an aircraft fuselage. The swivel floor has at least one front floor segment travelable with respect to a base body of the swivel floor in the direction of the aircraft fuselage.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to European Patent Application21189649.3 filed Aug. 4, 2021 which is hereby incorporated by referencein its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a coupling module as an interface between apassenger boarding bridge or staircase and the fuselage of an aircraftcomprising a cabin and a walkable swivel floor arranged at the cabin,wherein at least the swivel floor is arranged pivotable about a pivotaxis at the cabin to align the swivel floor at a door opening present inan aircraft fuselage.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A coupling module as an interface between a passenger boarding bridge orstaircase and the fuselage of an aircraft is known from EP 1 727 732 B1.A walkable floor that can be extended toward the aircraft fuselage isarranged at a cabin. The extendable floor can be tilted about atransverse axis of the coupling module to adapt the height of the frontedge of the floor to the height of the door opening in the aircraftfuselage. The tilting of the swivel floor takes place here in a jointwhose joint axis coincides with the transverse axis that extends in thewidth direction of the swivel floor and that thus extends approximatelyin parallel with a longitudinal axis of an aircraft parkable in front ofthe air passenger bridge. Lower edges of different heights of dooropenings to which the front side of the walkable floor has to be adaptedcan thus generally not be compensated since, on a change of the heightof the lower edge of the door opening of different models of aircraft, atiling of the walkable floor in a pivot axis has to take place that runstoward the parkable aircraft and that is thus perpendicular to thetransverse axis and thus the joint axis.

EP 1 159 195 B1 discloses a coupling module as an interface between apassenger boarding bridge or staircase and the fuselage of an aircraftcomprising a cabin and a walkable swivel floor, wherein the swivel flooris pivotable about a pivot axis that runs approximately horizontallytoward the fuselage of the aircraft parkable in front of the couplingmodule. At the same time, the floor can be traveled in a transverse axisthat is perpendicular to the pivot axis and that extends in the widthdirection of the swivel floor.

There is generally a demand on the coupling module as an interfacebetween an air passenger bridge or staircase and the fuselage of anaircraft to provide a walkable floor that has an only minimal totaldepth in a resting position, for instance when the air passenger bridgeis not used. The total depth of the air passenger bridge resultingtoward the front in the direction of a parkable aircraft should, wherepossible, not exceed a specified specific depth, with simultaneously aminimum depth being necessary to be able to handle certain aircraft.

Coupling modules of air passenger bridges have floors that frequentlyhave different depths in the pivot axis and the dimension between thebumper by which a direct contact with the aircraft fuselage can beestablished and a sliding gate or a bulkhead in the coupling moduletypically amounts to approximately 800 mm. New, larger aircraft,however, have aircraft doors that require a pivot range of more than1000 mm so that a coupling module with a floor depth of 800 mm from thebumper to the sliding gate or bulkhead cannot be coupled to all aircraftmodels. The total depth of the coupling module should, however, notexceed a specific depth in the resting position of the air passengerbridge and predefined safety distances have to be observed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the invention is the further improvement of a couplingmodule having a swivel floor that is expanded in its functional extentsuch that a high adaptability of the coupling module to different modelsof aircraft is possible while the swivel floor, where possible, does notexceed a specific depth in the resting position of the aircraft bridge.

This object is achieved starting from a coupling module in accordancewith the disclosure herein and starting from an air passenger bridge inaccordance with the disclosure herein, by the respective characterizingfeatures. Further measures improving the invention are also set forth.

The invention is based on the insight of configuring the swivel floorwith at least one front floor segment configured as travelable andwalkable in the direction of the aircraft fuselage.

The central idea of the invention is the further development of acoupling module having a swivel floor that is both pivotable about apivot axis to adapt the swivel floor to door openings of differentheights of different models of aircraft and to lengthen the swivel floortemporarily in the direction of a parking aircraft fuselage. Inaccordance with the invention, a front floor segment is provided that isextendable at the front side with respect to a base body of the existingswivel floor of the coupling module in the direction of the aircraftfuselage for this lengthening of the depth of the swivel floor. The basebody here in particular forms a part of the walkable surface of theswivel floor.

The swivel floor here is arranged pivotable about a pivot axis at thecabin and extends substantially horizontally in the direction of aparking aircraft. The alignment of the pivot axis in particular extendsperpendicular to the transverse extent of the swivel floor. Thetransverse extent here forms the width of the swivel floor that, whileneglecting an angular position, extends in parallel with thelongitudinal axis of the aircraft.

The extendibility can be implemented in various manners. The front floorsegment can e.g. be able to be telescoped out of the swivel floor, thatis it is in particular able to be telescopically extended from thewalkable swivel floor to the front in the direction of the parkableaircraft. The front floor segment here does not have to be surrounded bythe swivel floor over its full periphery so that the telescopic abilityis also present when the major depth of the front floor segment cantravel beneath the swivel floor. It is also possible that the frontfloor segment can travel into a recess, such as a pocket or a freespace, that is introduced into the base body of the swivel floor andwhose reception opening opens toward the aircraft fuselage, with thefront floor segment being able to travel into the reception opening.

Further possibilities for implementing the extendibility are that thefront floor segment can be pivoted or fanned out with respect to thebase body.

In accordance with an embodiment, the front floor segment can be dividedinto at least two sections that are flexibly or movably connected to oneanother. A plurality of sections can also be provided that are movably,in particular rotatably, or flexibly connected to one another. The frontfloor segment can e.g. overall be manufactured from a flexible materialso that it is deformable—viewed in the direction of extension—over itstotal length on a corresponding force application. It may, however, byall means be sufficient when—viewed in the direction of extension—two orthree sections are provided that are flexibly or movably connected toone another. They can specifically be parts that are separate from oneanother and that are connected to one another by means of spring metalsheet or joints or hinges. An axis of rotation about which the sectionsare arranged rotatable relative to one another here preferably extendsalong a connection line between the respectively adjacent sections.

In the extended state, the first section and the second section (andoptionally the further sections) have a first orientation with respectto one another. The sections can in particular form a planar level, i.e.the sections are arranged flush with one another. In the retractedstate, the sections can in contrast have a second orientation differenttherefrom. The sections can in particular be inclined with respect toone another. The sections can specifically be arranged dipped obliquelydownwardly beneath the base body in the retracted state. A front floorsegment that is long in the direction of extension overall can thus alsobe retracted beneath the base body, even if the base body has a shorterlength in the direction of extension than the front floor segment, or ifthe free space beneath the base body is limited toward the rear by othercomponents.

In a further embodiment, a guide can be provided for a movement guidanceof the different sections of the front floor segment that are movably orflexibly connected to one another. The guide can in particular be formedby the base body and specifically by the lower side of the base body. Onthe retraction movement, the sections of the front floor segment areaccordingly suitably tilted with respect to one another by the guide sothat the front floor segment dips beneath the base body in a spacesaving manner.

It is also of advantage if the front floor segment is configured suchthat it can travel out at different extension lengths over its width.The front floor segment here can also have a plurality of part segmentsconfigured next to one another or as fan-like in the width directionthat can be extended or fanned out by different amounts to compensate acurvature of the aircraft fuselage. If the front floor segment isconfigured as a single part, it can also, for example, extend in a typeof slanted position, in particular with a bumper arranged at the frontside at the front floor segment providing a final remaining compensationthat can be pressed in to different extents over the curvature of theaircraft fuselage.

Different drive possibilities are present to move the front floorsegment with respect to the swivel floor. In addition to a conventionaldrive via a spindle and a threaded rod or via a pinion and rack drive,provision is advantageously made to design the drive such that the frontfloor segment does not cause any damage to the aircraft fuselage onunusually powerful movements of the air passenger bridge toward saidaircraft fuselage. It is thus of advantage if the front floor segmentso-to-say Is arranged as yieldingly resilient at the swivel floor sothat a yielding capability is made possible in the front floor segmenton a pressure load of the aircraft fuselage on the air passenger bridge.

To create a yielding capability of the front floor segment relative tothe otherwise rigid swivel floor, at least one pressure element isadvantageously provided by which the front floor segment has a forceexerted on it in the extending direction with respect to the base bodyof the swivel floor. The pressure element or elements are configured toresiliently yield to a counterpressure notwithstanding the pressureelement being located in a force flow between the swivel floor and thefront floor segment and preloading the front flow segment in a yieldingmanner in the extending direction.

The pressure element can in particular be configured as a gas spring sothat the movement of the front floor segment with respect to the basebody of the swivel floor undergoes a damping in addition to the springeffect, with the pressure element also being able to be designed as asimple spring element in a simplified case.

At least one or more pulling means can furthermore be arranged by whicha force can be applied to the front floor segment, with the one or morepulling means, for example, having a flat belt, a cable, in particular awire cable, a strap, and/or a toothed belt. If a force is introducedinto the pulling means, it acts against the force of the pressureelement so that any possible force from the aircraft fuselage on thefront floor segment acts in the same force direction on the front floorsegment as also on the pulling means. The front floor segment can thusbe traveled with the pulling means and an associated drive means inoperative connection with the pulling means such that a permanent forceaction on the front floor segment takes place from the one or preferablyplurality of pressure elements. If the front floor segment is to beretracted again, the pulling means is retracted by the drive means sothat the pulling force of the pulling means acts against the pressureelement and equally retracts the pressure element itself.

The coupling module typically has a folding canopy by which the swivelfloor and/or the front floor segment can be covered. The folding canopyis arranged at the coupling module. On a pivoting of the swivel floor,the folding canopy can be designed such that no gaps arise at the sideon a pivoting of the swivel floor. For this purpose, the folding canopycan be downwardly lengthened in the lower end region and can extend upto and below the lower edge of the swivel floor and/or of the frontfloor segment. The folding canopy can optionally be retracted andextended at least sectionally together with the front floor segment.Alternatively or accumulatively, the folding canopy can have longerfolds or corrugations in the region of the front floor segment than inthe region of the swivel floor so that it can follow the movement of thefront floor segment.

In accordance with an embodiment, a front region of the folding canopycan extend with the front floor segment in the direction of the aircraftfuselage. Side openings are thus avoided and a contact frame of thefolding canopy can substantially fully contact the aircraft fuselageeven when the front floor segment is extended and the folding canopyalso extends at least in the front region.

The coupling module can be designed such that the swivel floor with thefront floor segment, the base body, the bumper, the pressure element,the pulling means, the drive means, and/or the folding canopy forms apreconfigurable assembly that can be arranged at the cabin. Thearrangement in particular takes place here with the above-describedpivotability about the pivot axis that projects approximatelyhorizontally from the coupling module and is aligned extending toward anaircraft parkable in front of the coupling module.

The invention is further directed to an air passenger bridge orstaircase having a coupling module in accordance with the abovedescription.

Advantageous further developments result from the description, and thedrawings. The advantages named in the description of features and ofcombinations of a plurality of features are only exemplary and can comeinto effect alternatively or cumulatively without the advantagesnecessarily having to be achieved by embodiments in accordance with theinvention. The features named in the description are to be understoodwith respect to their number such that exactly this number or a largernumber than said number is present without this requiring an explicituse of the term “at least”. If therefore, for example, a front floorsegment is spoken of, it is to be understood such that exactly one frontfloor segment, two front floor segments, or a plurality of front floorsegments is/are present. These features can be supplemented by otherfeatures or can be the only features the respective product consists of.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further measures improving the invention will be shown in more detailbelow together with the description of a preferred embodiment of theinvention with reference to the Figures.

FIG. 1 is a lateral view of the coupling module with a retracted frontfloor segment;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the swivel floor with a retracted front floorsegment;

FIG. 3 is a lateral view of the coupling module with an extended frontfloor segment;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the swivel floor with an extended front floorsegment;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the coupling module from a lower side;

FIG. 6 is a view of the coupling module with a swivel movement to theleft that is necessary for smaller aircraft modules;

FIG. 7 is a view of the coupling module with a swivel movement of theswivel floor to the right for larger smaller aircraft modules; and

FIG. 8 is a plan view of the swivel floor obliquely from above; and

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the swivel floor obliquely from above; and

FIG. 10 is a detail of FIG. 9 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a lateral view of the coupling module 1 in an arrangementat an air passenger bridge 100 that can, for example, be attached to thebuilding side in an articulated manner and that can be verticallytravelable or the air passenger bridge 100 alternatively forms an airpassenger staircase that can likewise comprise the coupling module 1. Afolding canopy 12 that covers a swivel floor 3 present at the inner sideis shown in the side view. A bumper 8 by which the coupling module 1 canmove into contact with the fuselage of the aircraft at the outer side isarranged at the front side at the swivel floor and is partially visiblein the side view. The folding canopy 12 has a contact frame 12 a that isflexible and that can lie on the curved aircraft fuselage at the outerside.

FIG. 2 shows a plan view of the swivel floor 3, with the folding canopy12 being shown sectioned. Due to the retracted state of the front floorsegment 7, it is not directly visible, but the front floor segment 7 israther traveled beneath the walkable surface of a base body 16 of theswivel floor 3.

The swivel floor 3 is pivotable about a pivot axis 4 that, as theillustration shows, is perpendicular to the transverse extent of theswivel floor 3 extending in the width B. The coupling module 1 is herelocated at the front side at the air passenger bridge 100.

FIG. 3 shows the side view of the coupling module 1 in an arrangement atthe air passenger bridge 100 starting from FIG. 1 , with the front floorsegment 7 differing therefrom being shown in the extended state so thatwith the front floor segment 7 the depth of the swivel floor 3 islengthened to the front in the direction toward the bumper 8. The frontpart of the folding canopy 12 is also extended here, as a comparison ofthe side view of FIG. 3 with the side view of FIG. 1 shows. If thebumper 8 has been traveled toward the outer side of the aircraft, thecontact frame 12 a can subsequently be traveled to the outer side of theaircraft.

FIG. 4 shows a plan view of the swivel floor 3 with the front floorsegment 7 extended at the front side. The swivel floor 3 is herelengthened in the direction toward the aircraft fuselage 6, with thelengthening approximately having a dimension of 100 mm to 400 mm andpreferably of 250 mm to 350 mm. The extension length of the front floorsegment 7 can differ. The front floor segment 7 is extended further onthe right side in the plane of the drawing than on the left side toadapt the front edge to the curvature of the fuselage of the aircraft inthe region of the bumper 8. The different extension length of the frontfloor segment 7 is to this extent also carried out by the folding canopy8 so that the contact frame 12 a also has extension widths of differentamounts. The front floor segment 7 can be single-part or multipart sothat a plurality of front floor segments 7 can also extend by differentamounts in accordance with the illustration.

It is further shown in FIG. 4 that the base body 16 can be divided intothree sections 17 to 19 that are substantially triangular in theembodiment shown. The sections 17 to 19 are each pivotably connected toone another at their respective connection lines so that the orientationof the sections 17 to 19 can respectively change on a swivel movement.

A perspective view of the coupling module 1 in an arrangement at the airpassenger bridge 100 is shown in FIG. 5 , with the view showing theswivel floor 3 from the lower side. The movement and drive mechanismconfigured to extend the front floor segment 7 becomes visible here. Thefront floor segment 7 is preloaded in an extending direction Ra by aplurality of pressure elements 9 in the form of gas springs that arearranged distributed over the width of the front floor segment 7 atapproximately the same spacing from one another. In this respect, thefront floor segment 7 can be divided into different sections that canalso be extended in an extending direction Ra individually andindependently of one another by the pressure elements 9.

The pressure elements 9 urge the at least one front floor segment 7 intothe extending direction Ra and tension means 10 that are connected toone or respective drive means 11 are provided as counter-movement means.The one or more drive means 11 are configured in accordance with theembodiment as tubular motors that are operatively connected to pullingmeans disks 15 over which the pulling means 10 is guided. The pressureelements 9 thus preload the at least one front floor segment 7 towardthe aircraft fuselage in the extending direction Ra and the front floorsegment 7 can be retracted with the pulling means 10 and the associateddrive means 11 by a counterforce in the retracting direction Ra. p

FIG. 6 shows a front view of the coupling module 1 with a swivelmovement of the swivel floor 3 relative to the air passenger bridge 100to the left for small aircraft models with which the air passengerbridge 100 have to be lowered a lot so that the rotation of the swivelfloor 3 about the pivot axis 4 to the obliquely extending air passengerbridge 10 amounts to approximately +6°. The swivel floor 3 is supportedat the lower side by a support frame 14 of the air passenger bridge 100.

FIG. 7 illustrates the coupling module 1 in a front view in which theswivel movement of the swivel floor 3 is carried out, for example, by−3° to the right to perform an adaptation of the swivel floor 3 tolarger aircraft. The pivot axis 4 is here located beneath the swivelfloor 3 and the swivel floor 3 is supported at the lower side by asupport frame 14 of the air passenger bridge 100.

A respective plan view of the pivot floor 3 is shown obliquely fromabove in FIGS. 8 and 9 , with no swivel movement being present in FIG. 8and the front floor segment 7 being extended, whereas in theillustration in FIG. 9 the swivel floor 3 is shown inclined byapproximately 6° and the front floor segment 7 is retracted.Corresponding to the lack of a swivel movement, the sections 17 to 19 ofthe base body 16 are arranged substantially in one plane in theillustration in FIG. 8 , whereby a planar surface results. In therepresentation in FIG. 9 with an existing inclination, the sections 17to 19 are each oriented tilted with respect to one another along therespective connection lines.

Due to the inclination of section 17 of the base body 16 on the swivelmovement obliquely downwardly, the front floor segment 7 can only beretracted over a limited depth of the base body 16 in a paralleldirection with the base body 16. Since the front floor segment 7 isdivided into a plurality of sections 20 to 22 in the direction ofretraction that are rotatably connected to one another and are thusvariable in their orientation relative to one another, the front floorsegment 7 can dip obliquely downwardly beneath the base body 7 onreaching the section 17 oriented obliquely downwardly. For a betterillustration, the detail 23 bordered by a rectangle in FIG. 9 is shownenlarged. The individual sections 20 to 22 that are connected to oneanother along their respective connection lines in a manner rotatablerelative to one another can in particular be clearly seen in the detail23 shown enlarged. The movement guidance takes place here by the lowerside of the base body 16. Due to this arrangement and movability of thesections 20 to 22 of the front floor segment 7, a complete retraction ofthe front floor segment is possible overall despite the swivel movementand the corresponding inclination of the section 17. This appliesaccordingly to a swivel movement in the other direction.

REFERENCE NUMERAL LIST

-   1 coupling module-   2 cabin-   3 swivel floor-   4 pivot axis-   5 door opening-   6 aircraft fuselage-   7 front floor segment-   8 bumper-   9 pressure element-   10 pulling means-   11 drive unit-   12 folding canopy-   12 a contact floor-   13 support arm-   14 support frame-   15 pulling means disk-   16 base body-   17 section-   18 section-   19 section-   20 section-   21 section-   22 section-   23 detail-   100 passenger bridge-   Ra extending direction-   Re retracting direction-   B width

1. A coupling module as an interface between an air passenger bridge orstaircase and the aircraft fuselage, comprising: a cabin; a walkableswivel floor, at least the swivel floor being pivotably arranged about apivot axis at the cabin to align the swivel floor at a door opening inan aircraft fuselage; wherein the swivel floor has at least one frontfloor segment that is configured as walkable and that is travelable inthe direction of the aircraft fuselage with respect to a base body ofthe swivel floor.
 2. The coupling module according to claim 1, whereinthe at least one front floor segment telescopes with respect to the basebody.
 3. The coupling module according to claim 1, wherein the at leastone front floor segment is travelable beneath the base body of theswivel floor and/or into a recess provided in the base body.
 4. Thecoupling module according to claim 1, wherein the at least one frontfloor segment has a first section and a second section that are flexiblyor movably connected to one another and have a first orientation withone another in an extended state and a second orientation with oneanother that differs from the first orientation in a retracted state. 5.The coupling module according to claim 4, wherein the first orientationis an aligned orientation and the second orientation is an inclinedorientation.
 6. The coupling module according to claim 4, furthercomprising a guide provided for the at least one front floor segmentoperable to guide an orientation change of the first and second sectionson retraction.
 7. The coupling module according to claim 6 wherein theguide is formed by the base body.
 8. The coupling module according toclaim 1, wherein the at least one front floor segment is configured toextend at different extension lengths over its width.
 9. The couplingmodule according to claim 1, further comprising a bumper arranged at afront side at the at least one front floor segment.
 10. The couplingmodule according to claim 1, further comprising at least one pressureelement operable to apply force to the at least one front floor segmentin an extending direction.
 11. The coupling module according to claim10, wherein: the pressure element is arranged in a force flow betweenthe base body of the swivel floor and the at least one front floorsegment; and/or the pressure element is a gas spring.
 12. The couplingmodule according to claim 1, further comprising a pulling elementarranged at the swivel floor; wherein the pulling element is operable toapply force to the at least one front floor segment; and/or wherein thepulling element is a flat belt, a cable, and/or a toothed belt.
 13. Thecoupling module according to claim 12, wherein the pulling elementapplies force to the front floor segment against a force of a pressureelement in a retracting direction.
 14. The coupling module according toclaim 12, further comprising a drive unit operatively connected with thepulling element.
 15. The coupling module according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a folding canopy covering the swivel floor and/or the atleast one front floor segment; wherein the folding canopy is retractableand extendable at least sectionwise together with the at least one frontfloor segment; and/or the folding canopy has longer folds orcorrugations in a region of the at least one front floor segment than inthe region of the swivel floor.
 16. The coupling module according toclaim 15, wherein: the folding canopy covers the swivel floor and, on apivoting of the swivel floor about the pivot axis, remains stationary atthe coupling module, with a lower end region of the folding canopy beingguided up to and beneath a walkable upper side of the swivel floor toprevent a gap formation between the folding canopy and the swivel flooron a pivoting of the swivel floor about the pivot axis.
 17. The couplingmodule according to claim 1, wherein the swivel floor with the at leastone front floor segment, a bumper, a pressure element, a pullingelement, a drive unit, and/or a folding canopy forms a preconfigurableassembly configured to be arranged at the cabin.
 18. The coupling moduleaccording to claim 17, further comprising a support arm arranged at thecabin by which the swivel floor and/or the preconfigurable assembly isreceived pivotably at the cabin.
 19. An air passenger bridge orstaircase having a coupling module according to claim 1.